Every Agent Tries to Stop
by savingsammyssoul
Summary: 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings. 1: FitzSimmons. 2: FitzWard. 3: SimmonsSkye. 4: CoulsonMay. 5: MayWard. 6: MaySimmons. 7: CoulsonSimmons. 8: MaySkye. 9: SkyeWard. 10: FitzMay. 11: Christmas Party Hop (SimmonsWard). Coming Soon: Dancing Merrily (CoulsonFitz).
1. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree**

_First in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**12th December  
**

"Okay, are we ever going to get round to putting the tree up or what?"

"Priorities, Skye! I case you hadn't noticed we were busy with some issues that were slightly more pressing than Christmas decorations. Namely trying to not get killed." Agent Ward rolled his eyes as he responded, it made no sense for the team to be getting frustrated over something so insignificant. Who cared when the bus got decorated, as long as they were all still alive by the time Christmas came around? Sadly, not everyone on the team was on the same page, so less than 24 hours after the debrief of the team's last mission, everyone was back on the topic of a Christmas tree.

"I'm with Skye on this one... it's our first Christmas together. Well, our first Christmas as a team, me and Simmons have spent Christmas together before, but it's not really the same as all six of us being on the bus together, and I mean we might not even get another chance to decorate the bus if something else comes up-"

"So we should make the most of our free time, and have some fun together as a team?" Jemma cut Fitz off before he could continue with his rambling. Not that she wasn't just as guilty of it as he was on occasion, but they needed to convince everyone that decorating together could be fun, and that wasn't going to happen if Ward was irritated at everyone. She really needed everyone to get into the Christmas spirit, this was going to be her first Christmas spent without her parents. She knew Fitz would make it special, just like he last year when he spent Christmas with her family, but being on the bus was like having her own little work family and she felt as though Christmas was the perfect time to express that.

"Considering the fact you guys forced Agent May to take the bus somewhere you could do some Christmas shopping, I think it would be a shame to not get the decorations up. I'll go get them... FitzSimmons, I trust you two can go and fetch the tree Skye bought?"

"Of course we will, Agent Coulson. This is going to be so much fun guys!" Simmons grinned and left the room, Fitz smiling after her and following. Agent Coulson went to leave the room as well, shooting a questioning glance at Agent May in lieu of asking her if she would accompany him.

"I'd just like to point out for the future that I am here as a pilot, not a taxi service, and Agent Ward is correct, we have other priorities. I suppose unless anything else comes up, we can take the time to decorate however." She said to no one in particular as she exited the room.

Once it was just the two of them, Skye smiled mischievously at her supporting officer,

"so... they're so obviously in love right? Tell me you see it too, they're both so cute and clueless about it!" Agent Ward looked startled, which Skye thought seemed unusual, but she began to understand his expression as he quickly responded,

"May and Coulson? I don't think-"

"No! No... I mean FitzSimmons, obviously! They just care about each other so much, it's adorable and frustrating to watch at the same time."

Ward looked a bit less startled after her second statement, although come to think of it, Skye wasn't quite sure why. She'd never given it much though, but May and Coulson would probably make a rather good couple, and the idea of it surely shouldn't be so shocking, she considered. Although obviously less shocked by the idea, Agent Ward didn't look at all convinced of the romance Skye could sense between Jemma and Leo.

"I think you're looking into things too much Skye. As much as you might want to, you can't just assume you understand other people's feelings. FitzSimmons are practically the same person, I really don't think they have anything more than friendship on their minds. I mean, they're close sure, but they're also practically brother and sister."

"Okay first, that's kind of gross, why would you talk about them like they're related when they make such a cute couple? Second, I definitely think there's more than just friendship between them, and I can prove it!"

Skye had been looking forward to finding to causing havoc with the mistletoe they had bought last week, against the will of certain agents, and this was the perfect opportunity to make use of it. Whilst they'd been talking, May and Coulson had been fetching in the boxes of decorations. Ward watched, intrigued, as she routed through the first few boxes, eventually giving up on figuring out what it was she was looking for.

The fourth box she searched contained exactly what she was looking for, and she held up some mistletoe and grinned triumphantly at Ward.

"Mistletoe. How exactly does that prove you right?"

"It doesn't. Not yet... but once we trick FitzSimmons into standing under it, we'll see how they react. I bet you anything after you see their reaction to getting caught under the mistletoe, you'll agree with me."

"I somehow doubt tha-"

Skye quickly slipped the mistletoe into her pocket as Agents Fitz and Simmons reached the doorway, signalling frantically to Ward to stop speaking. May and Coulson had just got back with the final boxes, and stood staring silently at the sight of the breathless agents dragging the tree into the room. The tree they'd bought was plastic, and had originally been in a storeroom on the other side of the bus, boxed and ready to be brought in to assemble. Skye hadn't considered it before, but it had taken them rather a long time to fetch it, and everyone could now see why.

"You may be two of the brightest agents I've ever had the privilege to work with, but you really didn't think that through did you?"

Agent Coulson tried not to smile too widely as he addressed his fellow agents, stood with their arms around the fully assembled tree they'd just dragged into the room.

"What do you mean?"

Uttered a confused looking Fitz, his arms dropping to his sides as he stepped away from the tree.

"I believe Agent Coulson is referring to the fact that most people would have fetched the tree into the room before assembling it, rather than dragging it half way across the bus,"

Simmons blushed as she listened to Agent May, realising how much effort they'd wasted. She didn't mind too much, putting up the tree with Fitz had been fun, and even dragging it around hadn't been too much of a chore. It was the embarrassment of other people thinking she'd been silly that was unbearable and she covered her face with her hands and laughed along with the rest of the team, whilst Fitz stuttered out half formed excuses. She put her hand on his arm, and he went quiet, looking defeated as he realised none of his words were convincing anybody that they hadn't messed and made things harder for themselves. Eventually, he turned round to look at her and burst out laughing himself, giving up on trying to defend their actions.

Eventually the laughter died down. Thankfully, no one had noticed Skye slipping something else into her pocket. Placing the mistletoe had been more of a difficulty however, and it was still sitting in her pocket, alongside the star for the top of the tree she'd snuck out of a box whilst everyone was busy giggling. She wasn't tall enough to reach the top of a door frame without drawing too much unwanted attention to herself, so as everyone began emptying boxes of tinsel and baubles she walked over to Agent Ward, and looked him in the eyes whilst discretely handing him the mistletoe, then looking pointedly at the door.

Soon enough, the tree was covered in a variety of different coloured tinsel, with mismatched baubles strewn across it. Skye was smiling at a sceptical looking Ward as Fitz wrapped a giggling Simmons up in tinsel, spinning her outwards as if they were dancing together. As far as Skye could see, the two of them were so obvious that the mistletoe was unneeded, but the bus could always benefit from some Christmas fun, and mistletoe was still the perfect way to get that spirit started in her opinion. Besides, her supporting officer was still looking far too unconvinced.

"Where's the star for the top of the tree?"

She questioned, making sure the decoration in her pocket was well hidden. Agent Coulson looked over at her suspiciously. He hadn't been there for the entire conversation, but realistically Skye knew that he and Agent May must have overheard some of what she'd been discussing with Ward. She was almost waiting for him to call her out, but that moment never came.

"We must have dropped it while we were bringing the decorations. FitzSimmons, seeing as though you guys made such a chore of bringing in the tree, you should probably go look for the star."

"Okay Agent Coulson!"

Fitz and Simmons exclaimed simultaneously, heading towards the door. As they walked, Skye took the star from her pocket and placed it on a nearby table. As her targets reached the doorway, she prepared herself to stop them, but before she had chance to say anything, Agent May picked up the star.

"Wait. The star's here on the table, there's no need to go looking for it."

They stopped, practically in the centre of the doorway, exactly where Skye wanted them. They started to turn round, but before they got the chance to move from the doorway, May had continued.

"You might want to look up though."

She smiled, as did the rest of the team as they watched the dawning of realisation on Fitz's face.

"Jemma, you might want to-"

"Oh, is that-"

"Yep."

Before they had time to overthink things, something which they were both frequently guilty of, their eyes closed and leant in to meet each other's lips. Fitz brought his hand up to brush her cheek, and hers came to rest on his waist, subconsciously blocking the two of them away from their spectators whilst their other arms were by their sides, both of them holding them awkwardly, unsure of what to do with them. Simmons thought about the first time the two of them had kissed, as she felt Fitz's fingers run gently over the back of her hand. It had been under mistletoe that time too, only that time they were alone, and had both had enough alcohol that they hadn't worried about which hand should go where. She intertwined their fingers for a brief moment, before reminding herself that they also hadn't had to worry about onlookers last time. After a few seconds that had felt far longer, they broke apart. They both stepped away from each other, Fitz stumbling backwards and looking down at his feet. They suddenly noticed the laughing and, in Skye's case, cheering happening around them and started giggling along with the rest of the team, both blushing lightly as they caught each other's eyes.

"Okay, who's idea was that?"

No one responded as Fitz looked around, scanning the room for guilty looking faces. He waited for a few moments, before realising that, as usual, it was useless expecting any of them to own up. He was almost sure it was Skye, but either way, it didn't really matter.

"Whoever decide mistletoe on the bus was a fun idea will live to regret it... mark my words, this wont be the last kiss aboard the bus this Christmas!"


	2. Deck the Halls

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Deck the Halls**

_Second in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**13th December**

After all the excitement of putting up the tree and, of course, witnessing Fitz and Simmons kissing beneath the mistletoe, the team had decided they'd done enough decorating for one day, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the lounge. The next day, whilst most of the team was still asleep, Fitz and Simmons were putting their plan into action. After he'd promised that theirs would not be the last mistletoe kiss of the year, Fitz had starting plotting ways to catch other people out. He contemplated leaving Jemma out of the loop, and including her as one of the targets, but it had just felt wrong to exclude her. They were 'FitzSimmons', it was what they did. Fix things together. Or, in this case, plot things together. Besides, Simmons was a vital source of brilliant ideas, with the two of them working together, the mistletoe mayhem was bound to be a far more spectacular affair.

Starting at opposite ends of the bus, they planted mistletoe in various places, ready for their plans to be carried out. A few were hung in obvious places, in order to lower people's defences, and make them think they could safely avoid the mistletoe. The rest, however, was cleverly placed in order to hopefully go undetected by the rest of the team, until Fitz and Simmons implemented one of their plans. Once they'd both covered the bus in deviously placed plants, they met back up outside Skye's room, Simmons holding the final piece of mistletoe.

"Ready to seek our first bit of revenge?" Fitz said, laughing quietly as he took the mistletoe and fixed it to the top of the door leading to Skye's room. When they'd first started, the rest of the agents had still been asleep. That was probably still the case for Skye, although she'd certainly be awake soon, but Agent Ward was most likely already awake and down in the training room, beginning his morning routine.

"Remember to wait until the beeper goes off to knock on her door!" Simmons referred to the device currently sitting in Fitz's pocket, that would go off when she pressed a button in her own pocket. Once Simmons had convinced Agent Ward to come up to Skye's room, the plan was to let Fitz know when he was nearly there, so he could call Skye out of her room and, if all went to plan, trap the two of them under the mistletoe. At least, that was Fitz's impression of the plan.

Skye had been awake for over an hour already, and was currently sat on he bed quietly listening to the conversation occurring at her door. She smiled to herself, as she heard Simmons leaving. The girl was absolutely brilliant, and Skye couldn't wait to see if their own version of 'the plan' was going to work out the way they both hoped. She contemplating getting her camera ready, because if it did go to plan, the results would definitely be worthy of photographic evidence.

Agent Ward had been training for a good half an hour when Agent Simmons walked into the room. He was shocked to see her so early in the day, his mornings tended to be rather solitary. He walked over and picked up a towel, wiping the layer of sweat from his skin as he approached Simmons. She averted her eyes, and nervously tried to find the words she'd intended to say to him, momentarily forgetting what it was she was supposed to be here for. Ward smirked self confidently as she finally made eye contact with him and began to speak,

"Skye! I mean, she, Skye, asked if you'd come to her room."

"Really? I can't believe she's awake this early... what does she want?"

"She didn't say... she just said it was important, and she needed to talk to her supporting officer about it."

"Couldn't she have left it until later, I'm busy?" He paused for a moment, rolling his eyes before continuing,

"Come on then, I suppose I better go see what she wants."

They walked in comfortable silence towards Skye's room, Simmons getting increasingly nervous about whether or not her plan was going to work. She left it a bit longer that Fitz was expecting her to to set of his buzzer, and as he knocked on the door, Agent Ward was already walking up behind him.

"Skye?"

"Fitz? What do you want? I'll just be a minute."

Skye purposefully muffled her voice, trying to sound like she'd just woken up as she grinned to herself, filled with nervous energy. She couldn't wait to see how this turned out. As she grabbed her camera, Agent Fitz was turning around to walk away from her door, ready for Agent Ward to take his place waiting for Skye, so that he and Simmons could point out the mistletoe to the two of them, once Skye came to her door. As he turned around however, Ward was much closer than anticipated, and Fitz stumbled back into the doorway as he stopped beside him.

"Woah, Ward, wait!"

Fitz tried to quickly move out of the way but Simmons wasn't going to let him get away with escaping that easily. Putting her hand on his shoulder to keep him where he was, she pointed up at the mistletoe mischievously.

"Uh-uh, rules are rules Fitz. You too, Agent Ward, neither of you are getting out of this one."

"This was so not the plan."

Fitz cringed and looked up at Ward. For a few moments, he couldn't read the blank look on the agents face. He fidgeted nervously, dreading the reaction that was about to occur, but suddenly, Grant smiled and winked at him,

"Plan? If you wanted to kiss me, you should have just said so Fitz. I guess I can manage that, it is nearly Christmas after all. Happy holidays!"

Quicker than he could process what was happening, Leo found a pair of strong hands on his hips. His lips parted, mostly in shock, as Ward pressed their mouths together. His hands instinctively went to Ward's hair, as he returned the kiss. The sensation was odd, and it briefly occurred to Fitz that Ward's hair was far shorter than anyone's who he had previously kissed, but the experience was no where near as awkward as he'd expected. He probably wouldn't be so quick to admit it to himself later, but he was really quite enjoying the feel of Ward pressed against him, strong hands on his hips.

Ward was far more willing to admit, at least to himself, that from the moment he spotted the mistletoe he'd been anticipating finding out what it would be like to kiss Fitz, and he was far from disappointed. He knew realistically that it was a coincidence that Fitz's hand had gone straight to his hair, and that there was no way for him to have known just how much Grant loved the sensation, but that didn't stop him from internally thanking him enthusiastically. Just as he was contemplating how Fitz would react if he were to try to deepen the kiss, the flash of Skye's camera startled them apart, and they were both suddenly reminded that they had an audience. One one side of them, Jemma watching them, wide eyed and in shock at how well their plan had gone. On the other side, stood Skye. She had opened her door just as the agent's lips had touched, and once she had registered what was happening, she took a moment to wink at Simmons as an acknowledgement of their success, before grabbing her camera to capture the moment.

"So! Was that what you boys woke me up for? Are you sure you wouldn't have preferred a little privacy?" Fitz pointed awkwardly at the mistletoe, and tried to respond to Skye, but Agent Ward just laughed and looked back and forth between Fitz and Simmons,

"Let me guess, that was supposed to be me and Skye stuck under the mistletoe? Looks like your plan backfired, better luck next time!" Ward headed off back to the training room laughing, as Fitz stood rooted to the spot, mumbling to himself under his breath. Finally, he looked up at Simmons.

"I need to go and look over the plans. Obviously there are more variables we need to factor in for next time."

"Plans? As in plural? Next time? What else have you guys got planned Jemma?

Agent Simmons smiled at Skye and tapped her nose, signalling that the rest of her plans with Fitz were going to remain a secret, before following him down the corridor. Skye shook her head, laughing as she went back into the room. After checking her camera one last time, to admire the wonderful picture she'd managed to snap, she turned off her light and climbed back into bed. Far too much excitement, far too early in the morning. She needed her sleep.


	3. Boughs of Holly

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Boughs of Holly**

_Third in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**14th December**

"What do you mean, decorating? We decorated two days ago!"

Ward rolled his eyes as he walked into the lounge to see Skye and Simmons surrounded by countless branches of holly, various other bits of greenery and piles of brightly coloured paper. He'd asked what on earth they were doing, to which Skye had cheerfully responded 'Decorating'. Fitz walked into the room just in time to hear him pointing out that they'd already done that. He was wearing a ridiculous sweater with a grinning penguin on it that Ward in no way found adorable. The girls most definitely did however, pointing and grinning as he walked in,

"See! Fitz has the right spirit, you need to get into the Christmas mood Ward!"

"I'm glad you appreciate the jumper guys! And Ward, we decorated the tree and put up the mistletoe... we still need holly and paper chains before the decorating's really done."

"Paper chains?"

Suddenly Ward found himself dragged over to a table, a selection of coloured paper shoved into his hands. Almost quicker than he could register picking up a pair of scissors, Skye had him cutting paper into strips, and was showing him how to loop them into multicoloured chains. Just as she'd decided he was now ready to try on his own, and had gone back over to her own chain, lying abandoned next to Simmons, May came into the room. She walked over to Agent Ward, giving him a questioning look, and picking up the small paper chain he'd been working on.

"Paper chains!" He exclaimed, "Skye has us making them, care to help out?"

May quickly got to work, chatting quietly to Ward as they both added new loops onto opposite ends of the chain. The two of them were working peacefully, but the same couldn't be said for the agents on the other side of the room. Skye and Simmons were quite happily working on their chain, alternating between red and green loops of paper, until Fitz suddenly tried to attach one of the strips of gold paper he'd been cutting, onto the end of their chain,

"Fitz! What are you doing, we have a colour scheme here, you're messing it all up."

"I am not messing it up, I'm making it more interesting... you and Jemma are making it all boring, who doesn't love gold?" Simmons smacked Fitz's hand away from the chain as he continued trying to attach the gold loops, and insisted,

"It's not about the colour, it's about the pattern! Make some red strips, then you can make you're own chain with the gold ones."

"Oh, that's lovely. Really capturing the Christmas spirit, you four pairing up and make your chains, leaving me to work on my own, very nice. Maybe I'll go and find Agent Coulson, and see if he'll let me make a chain with him, seeing as though none of you want to work with me!"

"Stop being over dramatic Fitz! Skye can help you, I think our chain's long enough now, and besides, I want to go and make some decorations with the holly."

Simmons walked over to the table filled with branches of holly, and started tying them together into different shapes. Agents Ward and May started on a second paper chain, whilst Skye grabbed some red paper and started helping Fitz. After a while, they both decided to go over and help Simmons with the holly boughs. Skye watched Simmons for a while, skilfully tying the holly together. She was particularly intrigued when Simmons started making a wreath with the holly, somehow managing to make a perfectly shaped circle from the little branches, adding other bits of plants Skye didn't recognise. She knew holly was a traditional Christmas decoration, but she'd only ever seen it before on Christmas cards, and on the television.

"They're really beautiful!" She exclaimed, leaning over Simmons' shoulder to get a better look at what she was doing. "I've never seen anyone doing that before, I wish I could make wreaths like that... they look so perfect and Christmassy!"

Simmons blushed at the praise,

"Thanks! I can show you how to make them if you want?"

Agent Simmons started off by moving Skye's hands along with hers, showing her how to tie the branches with twine, holding them together firmly. She talked her through adding bunches and layers of other leaves, pine branches and berries whilst Skye watched, playing with the branches of Holly as she smiled at Simmons' enthusiasm. Once she'd finished making her wreath, she started another, and this time Skye joined her, looking between her own hands and Simmons' as she followed her lead in wrapping the twine around the holly branches.

"You know, common holly, the type used for decoration, is officially called Ilex Aquifolium. Also, holly boughs used to be referred to as mistletoe boughs, or kissing bunches. When someone kissed beneath one, they'd take one of the berries off, and when there were none left, no more kisses were allowed beneath it."

"Wow, how do you remember all this stuff? I didn't even know how to make a wreath this morning. Although, the one I'm making now is turning out pretty well... you're a pretty great teacher!"

Fitz had been listening to their conversation, as he sat making his own holly boughs. When he'd heard the word 'mistletoe' he'd began to formulate a plan. If everything went smoothly, he'd finally get to avoid being the one caught under the mistletoe this time, rather than everything backfiring. Simmons was supposed to be part of his plans, so he supposed he shouldn't really be targeting her, but he was also fairly sure she'd played a part in making sure the kiss between him and Ward had happened yesterday, so he forgave himself and decided she probably deserved it.

"Those wreaths are looking good girls. Maybe we should hang one outside the interrogation room. That area of the bus could definitely do with being a bit more cheery!"

"That's a great idea! Skye, your wreath is looking brilliant, do you want to go hang it up?"

Fitz followed the two of them as they happily headed towards the interrogation room, Skye's wreath in her hands ready to be hung on the door. Fitz kept behind them as they walked, trying not to draw too much attention to himself as he knew if Simmons saw the grin on his face she'd know something was up. Once they got to the room, the two girls went and stood by the door. Skye was about to ask how they were supposed to fix it to the door, when suddenly Fitz interjected,

"and here we have it ladies! Kiss number three!" He saw the look of confusion on Simmons face, as she followed his gaze to above their heads, spotting the mistletoe above them.

"No, that's not right!" She began to protest, "we didn't put any down this corridor, it wasn't part of the plan!" Fitz laughed at the contrast between the indignant look on Simmons' face, and the amused one on Skye's.

"It wasn't part of your plan. I have my own plans too, how was I supposed to get back at you for setting me up with Ward if you knew where every bit of mistletoe was?"

Simmons was about to continue to protest, but Skye suddenly placed the holly wreath on her head, distracting her into turning round so that they were looking at each other. Skye rested one hand on Simmons' neck, realising as she brushed the hair from the her face, that she'd never realised just how pretty the other girl was. She let her hand rest on her cheek, as Simmons' hands came to gently rest on her waste. As they leaned into each other, they both giggled as their noses bumped, eventually capturing each others lips in a soft kiss. They both revelled in the softness of the lips pressed against their own for a few moments, before pulling apart, flushed and giggling. Skye pulled a holly berry from the wreath on Jemma's head, and held it out to her.

"So, as I was saying before... how are we going to fix this wreath up?"


	4. Christmas Spirit

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Christmas Spirit**

_Fourth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**15th December**

When they'd first become a team, it was unusual for all of the agents to be in the lounge at the same time, unless Agent Coulson had called them their to discuss a mission. Aside from Skye, they'd all met before, but had never spent time together as a group. Initially, coversations had been filled with so many awkward silences that it had felt politer for each of them to leave the lounge and return to their room after a few minutes if someone else came in to relax. As time had gone by, they'd become more comfortable, and for the past few weeks it was far from unusual to find all six members of the team sat together in the lounge during the evening, provided Agent May wasn't piloting the bus. That night, all of them were in the lounge, and Fitz and Simmons were eagerly anticipating putting another of their plans into action. With hindsight, the whole thing would have been much less dangerous if they'd some of the other agents in on the plan.

"Hey! Hey Fitz, Fitzy! Where's the rum gone! Get it, get it, the rum's gone"

Fitz put his hand over Simmons' mouth, silencing her terrible attempt at whispering. He tried to shush her, but ended up laughing hysterically as he stumbled forward into her. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to them. Agent Coulson, May, Ward and Skye were too engrossed in their own tipsy conversation to notice Fitz and Simmons, who'd both consumed far more alcohol than either of them were used to. Normally, neither of them would have touched rum, but tonight their plan relied on the bottle running dry, so they'd both tried to drink as much as possible, without leaving themselves incapable of carrying out the rest of the plan. They'd realised earlier, a little too late, that they could have avoided having to drink so much if they'd have shared their plan with Skye and Ward.

Simmons was getting impatient with waiting for Agent Coulson to realise that there was no alcohol left, and go to get some more, but even in her current state she knew that realistically to avoid suspicion neither her nor Fitz could suggest that he go to get some. There was a particular cupboard on the bus that was stocked with some of Agent Coulson's favourite spirits, and they'd planted mistletoe above the cupboard door, ready to catch Coulson out next time he needed a new bottle. This particular cupboard also had a key, which was needed to open it, that was kept on the thin ledge at the top of the door. Tonight, however, the key was in Fitz's pocket.

Finally, a break in the conversation as the two of them went over to sit with the rest of the team, caused Agent Coulson to realise his glass was empty and go to pour himself another drink. After looking at the bottle for a few moments, his face filled with confusion, he looked up at the rest of the agents, the sight of FitzSimmons giggling together, red faced and grinning stupidly explained to him where all the rum had got to.

"Looks like I better go and get another bottle. No more for you to though," he pointed over to where Simmons and Fitz had sat down, "you both seem like you've had more than enough already! Since when do you two drink spirits?"

As Coulson left the room, Fitz slipped the key out of his pocket and waited for the right moment to discreetly place it on the table. As soon as the rest of the team had dropped back into conversation, he took his chance. Now they just had to hope no one would find it too suspicious for the key to be in the room, and for it to be pointed out by them. Agent Simmons did her best to act as though she was doing a double take as she glanced over at the table, pretending to see something that reluctantly dragged her from the conversation.

"Wait a minute, what's that key doing on the table? Has someone left their room key lying around again?"

Everyone looked over at the table, and May leaned over to pick up the key,

"No, this isn't a room key, it's the key to the spirit cupboard. What's it doing their? Agent Coulson must have brought it in accidentally, and forgot to take it back with him. He'll need it now, I'll go and give it to him," Simmons tried not to smile to obviously, as she and Fitz both rejoiced internally. Against all odds, the plan was going smoothly so far. As Agent May left the room, they followed her quietly, and gestured to Skye and Ward to do the same. As they got to the corridor the spirit cupboard was on, Coulson was already walking away from it, presumably after realising that he couldn't unlock it.

"Looking for this?" Agent May held up the small key, continuing to walk towards Coulson.

"Thanks! Where was it? I thought I'd put it back where it normally goes last time, I can't remember where else I'd have put it."

"It was just in the lounge, you're getting forgetful in your old age, agent."

Coulson tried to look offended, but the look was unconvincing as he ended up laughing at the same time. Agent May unlocked the door to the cupboard, and as she opened it, he leaned over her shoulder to grab a bottle. Fitz and Simmons grinned at each other, so many things could have ruined their plan, but everything had turned out perfectly. All that was left to do was point out the mistletoe, but sadly, they were beaten to the chase. Agent Ward suddenly cleared his throat,

"Agent Coulson? Agent May? You might want to look up right about now."

The two of them did as Ward had suggested and looked up, as did Skye, realising that there was mistletoe above their heads.

"Oh! May and Coulson are gonna kiss, wooo, more Christmas spirit!" Skye exclaimed.

"Well it will hardly be the first time," Coulson said, smiling at May, who returned the smile before pulling him into a kiss. The other agents watched, shocked at the passion between the two, as they both held each other's waists and enthusiastically moved their mouths in perfect, practiced harmony with each other. May thought about the first time Agent Coulson had kissed her, many years ago. There was something to be said for the magic of new experiences, and their first kiss had certainly been something special, but familiarity was definitely not boring, and the kiss they were sharing now was far better than the first, despite their current audience. Both of their technique's had improved over the years, and as they kissed, she realised how much she'd missed the rhythm between the two of them as their lips moved together. Since he 'came back from the dead', Agent Coulson had been out of sorts, and ultimately uncomfortable letting his guard down around his fellow agents, but as he was reminded of the time he and May had spent together in the past, he considered that it might not be such a bad thing for the two of them to try going back to the way things used to be between them. After a while, they both came to their senses and slowly pulled away from each other. Their kiss had lasted far longer than any of the others had, and the rest of their team was watching silently, in awe of what they'd just witness. After a few moments, May spoke.

"You know what, Agent Coulson, I'm rather impressed. You may have died since the last time we kissed, but you certainly haven't lost your touch."

* * *

**A/N: I feel as though I owe you guy an author's note at this point... mostly to apologise for this chapter. I've been busy all day, and didn't have as much time as I wanted to to work on the plot of this chapter, so it feels really forced and awkward. I might come back to this chapter and try and redo it a little better at some point, but for now, I have so much to write each day that I feel like I'd just ruin the rest of the chapters if I tried to spend more time improving on this one. Let me know what you think so far guys, hope you're enjoying the fic.**


	5. Every Couple

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Every Couple**

_Fifth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

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**16th December **

There were only five of them in the lounge the evening after Agent May and Agent Coulson's kiss beneath the mistletoe. Agent Coulson was supposedly busy with work, but the rest of the team were speculating that his absence had more to do with embarrassment following last nights shenanigans. Fitz and Simmons had spent most of the day in bed, trying to recover from the unusually large amounts of alcohol they'd both consumed, but they were both feeling much better, and feeling proud of the kiss they'd managed to make happen the night before. They certainly weren't about to let May hear the end of it anytime soon, and she was more than ready for a break from the immature teasing of her younger teammates.

"I think I'm going to retire for the night."

"So, are you headed to your room May... or would you prefer Agent Coulson's?"

May rolled her eyes at Skye's comment. She may have not had a hand in getting the two of them under the mistletoe, but Skye was just as delighted at the kiss between her and Coulson as everyone else was it seemed. Everyone except Agent Ward, she corrected herself, looking over at him as she left the room. To anybody else, the look they shared would have seemed insignificant, but May was confident Grant would know what it meant. As she left the room, the conversation quickly turned to speculation about the relationship between the absent agents.

"May said that it wouldn't be the first time... do you think she just meant they'd kissed under the mistletoe, or-" Fitz suddenly found himself cut off by Skye before he had chance to continue,

"I'm pretty sure it meant more than just under the mistletoe! They looked pretty comfortably with each other."

"They were so sweet! How long ago do you think they dated? Do you think they'll ever get back together, they'd be so cute together."

"Simmons, you're so innocent, how are we sure they dated? They could have just been-"

"Yeah, thanks Skye, I really don't think any of us need to hear about that thanks! Haven't we discussed this topic enough yet, I'm getting bored of all this immature giggling over who's kissing who. I'm going to bed."

Fitz, Simmons and Skye all went quiet as Agent Ward left the room, looking between each other, silently questioning what was wrong with him. As he went to turn down the corridor to go to May's room, Simmons called to him from the lounge,

"Isn't your room in the other direction Ward?"

A few moments later, they all watched as he walked back past the doorway, down the corridor to his room. Simmons wasn't sure what was wrong, but she considered that their must be something going on that was distracting him. Why else would he forget the way to his own room?

Agent Ward sat in his room, trying to listen out for what was going on in the lounge. He caught a few snippets of conversation, but for the most part there was nothing to be heard aside from muffled voices and the occasional explosion of laughter. He knew he couldn't walk back past the lounge until the rest of the team had left, and it was frustrating him to no end. May must be wondering where he'd got to. Either that, or she'd decided she'd had enough of waiting and gone to sleep already. Eventually, after almost an hour, Ward heard the rest of the agents leave the lounge for their respective rooms. He quietly made his way to Agent May's room, hoping she wasn't mad at him, or asleep.

"You're late."

The smile Agent May was trying to conceal contradicted the glare she was affording him as he entered her room. Ward made his excuses, complaining about the rest of their team insistance on staying up later than neccesary. He was still stood near the doorway, May sat on the bed watching him as he complained,

"What's got you so easily irritated today?"

"Nothing!" Ward exclaimed, "I'm just sick of all the immaturity. I'd rather not sit their surrounded by kids wittering on about stupid bloody mistletoe."

"Those 'kids' are hardly younger than you are Agent Ward. I'm also sorry to inform you that if you're sure about your dislike of mistletoe, you might want to avoid joining me on the bed."

Both of them looked up to the ceiling above Agent May's bed simultaneously, Ward rolling his eyes as he spotted the offending plant above her head. It was still over a week until Christmas, and he was already sick of all this decorating and kissing and stupid Christmas spirit. He supposed, however, considering the circumstanced, he could make an exception to his objection to mistletoe After all, he wouldn't want to waste all the time and effort it had taken to get to May's room without being detected by their fellow agents.

"I suppose I can make an exception," he sat down next to her on the bed, and they looked at each other for a moment. May was about to lean over and kiss Ward, when he continued the conversation,

"Of course, I haven't died any time soon, so my skills might not have improved as much since last time we kissed, but hopefully the experience wont be too disappointed."

"Stop acting like a jealous child Agent Ward, I'm well aware you're very much alive. Now kiss me."

Ward leaned over and captured her lips with his, the two of them reveling in the sensation as May brought her hands up to Ward's hair, knowing by now how much he enjoyed the simple action, as he held her waist with one arm, using the other to support his weight. They both had a moment to feel thankful for the lack of a staring audience, before allowing themselves to be distracted thoroughly by each other, gradually leaning back onto the bed as their kiss became more heated. Once they were lay back on the bed, Agent Ward broke away from May for a moment,

"I suppose mistletoe isn't always so terrible," he smiled, before leaning in for another kiss, after which the two of them forgot the mistletoe entirely.

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**A/N. A bit of a short one I'm afraid, but once again it's been a busy day. I'll find time to proof read the last two chapters soon, promise! Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. As for the question about SkyeWard, I've put up a list of the upcoming chapter's on my blog, but if all goes to plan, 'Let's Be Jolly' (SkyeWard chapter) should be written on the 20th. Also, I thought I'd mention, due to the... suggestive nature of this chapter, I thought it might be best to up the rating to T, but it wont be going beyond that, and most chapters will probably still be 'K+'.  
**


	6. Pumpkin Pie

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Pumpkin Pie**

_Sixth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**17th December**

The early hours of the next morning found Agent May sat in the control room. She had needed some space to clear her head. Ward had spent almost every night for the part few weeks in her room, and she wasn't used to having so little time alone. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the feeling of sleeping next to someone again, but she needed time to herself. Grant was currently sleeping in her room, so when she'd woken up feeling crowded at 3am she decided to go to the one place she could, usually, be guaranteed solitude. She'd been sat, lost in her thoughts for a while, when she suddenly realised how tired she was, and decided she should go back to bed before Grant and the rest of the team woke up.

As she walked past the lounge, she noticed the light was on. She was usually the only person awake at this time of the night, and despite wanting to get back to bed, her curiosity got the better of her. She had to go and see who was in the lounge, and figure out why they were up so early. As she entered the room, a started Agent Simmons looked up from where she was sat, shocked at being caught awake at such an odd hour. She'd been having trouble sleeping, and hadn't expected anyone else to be up for hours.

"Agent May! I didn't know anyone was up, I hope I didn't wake you?"

"Don't worry, I was having trouble sleeping. Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep either. I've been a bit restless recently, I thought I may as well make the most of my time rather than just lying in bed getting frustrated at not being able to relax."

"Making the most of your time? What have you been doing?" May looked around the room, trying to see if there was any evidence that Simmons had been doing anything other than sitting there, but she couldn't see anything.

"I can show you if you want! Unless, I mean, sorry. You're probably headed back to bed, it doesn't matter."

Melinda was torn. On one hand, she wasn't entirely comfortable making conversation with Agent Simmons, they didn't know each other too well, and besides, she was rather tired, so she supposed the most sensible thing to do would be go back to bed. On the other hand, Simmons had made her curious. She also wasn't sure she wanted to leave Jemma alone right now, she was acting as though she was fine, but she'd admitted to being restless recently, and there was a look in her eyes that suggested something was taking it's toll on her. Agent May was possibly not the most qualified to try to get Simmons talking about what was bothering her, but it didn't seem right to not try. She knew if things had been the opposite way round, Simmons was the kind of sweet person who'd go out of the way to make sure their fellow teammate was okay, so May wanted to do her best to afford her the same care.

"It's fine, show me. There's not much chance of me sleeping any more tonight, so we may as well keep each other company," watching the other girls face light up as her eyes matched the smile on her face was enough to show May she'd made the right decision. Simmons ran from the room, promising to be back in a moment, and Agent May sat down, wondering what on earth it could be that her fellow agent had been doing. Knowing the sorts of things her and Fitz got up to in the lab, May was momentarily concerned for the teams wellbeing, but her mind was put to rest seconds later when Jemma walked into the room holding a pie.

"Pumpkin Pie!" She announced, putting it down on the table, along with the knife and plates she'd been holding. "Would you like some?" May wasn't sure where the girl had found the ingredients to make a pie. She knew the bus had a kitchen, stocked with basic food supplies and cooking appliances, but she was pretty sure that they hadn't had any pumpkins. She supposed Simmons must have bought one when they all went Christmas shopping, but she was still bewildered as to why she'd chosen something as seeming random as pumpkin pie to make.

"Sure, I'll try some. I don't believe I've ever tried pumpkin pie before, it should be interesting."

Jemma silently cut two slices, sitting down next to May and taking a bite of her's, a somewhat sad smile on her face. She looked like she was deep in thought. May took a bite of the pie herself, pleasantly surprised.

"It's lovely, do you bake a lot?"

"Not really. Not unless I'm missing my mum, it's something I used to do with her, I rarely have the motivation to do it myself."

"Is that why you've been restless? You're missing your mum?"

"And Dad." Simmons added quietly. "I don't usually plan to bake anything, but I had to this year. I had to get the pumpkin. Every year, every Christmas Eve we make pumpkin pie, me and my mum and dad. I was going to wait until Christmas Eve, and make one myself, because I can't go home and do it this year. That's why I bought the pumpkin, I... I ended up making it now though. I got sad I suppose. Thought it would stop me from missing them, but I think it's just made it worse."

Melinda watched, unsure of how to react as Jemma got increasingly upset as she talked about her families little tradition. She knew first hand that the holidays could be a difficult time when you can't spend it with your family, but it had been many years since her first Christmas withough her parents, and she'd forgotten how new the experience would be to the younger members of the team. It was easy to forget sometimes, how young Fitz and Simmons really were. They were so intelligence it was almost as if other aspects of them didn't exist. They do, May told herself. You just don't look for long enough to see, because you're reluctant to get close to them, and consider them your friends.

"I know it can be hard, but you're not alone. You can call your parents tomorrow, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you, and as for Christmas... it will be tough without them. We may not have been together as a team for long, but we're already our own family in a way, and I know it'd not the same, but you have five people on this ship who are here for you."

"I know it's silly, but I just miss them so much. I've always told them everything, and now I can't, and I understand why, but it just makes me feel so isolated. I've never spent the holidays without them before, and I feel like such a child getting upset about it, but I don't know how else to deal with it!"

Jemma began to cry silently, tears rolling down her cheeks, her body shaking as she tried to control her tears, mentally chastising herself for getting upset infront of Agent May. Telling herself to stop being silly didn't help in the slightest however, it only made it harder to control her tears.

May watched her for what seemed like a few minutes, awkwardly trying to figure out what she could say, if anything, to make things better. She glanced up above her head for a moment, noticing the mistletoe placed above the couch. She wasn't sure if it was an appropriate reaction to a teammate being in distress, but she was at a loss when it came to how she should react to this particular situation, so she decided it was worth a shot. She tilted Jemma's face up, until she was looking into her eyes. Brushing the tears from her cheels, she whispered,

"It's going to be okay,"

before leaning into to kiss her softly. Simmons tears gradually stopping as the soft warmth of Melinda's lips against her's made her feel calmer, and safe. She returned the kiss with hesitation, pressing her lips gently against May's for a few seconds before pulling away. She gave Agent May a questioning look, to which she responding by looking up above their heads and whispering,

"Mistletoe."

Simmons smiled, and went to brush away the tears that were already gone from her face. May stood up, and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Jemma."


	7. Some Caroling

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Some Caroling**

_Seventh in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**18th December**

"No. Absolutely not. This is where I draw the line. There's been a tree, there's been decorations, there's been mistletoe, and there has even been Jemma's pumpkin pie, which was lovely by the way. There is absolutely not going to be carol singing. I am not coming with you."

It was still a whole week of Christmas, and Agent Ward has already had enough 'Christmas spirit' forced on him to last until next Christmas. Despite his reservations, he had actually enjoyed decorating the bus. Even the mistletoe hadn't been too bad of an idea, there had been plenty of amusing moments, and there was no doubt that he'd enjoy the food during the holidays, if Simmons' pie was a sign of things to come. He had to draw the line somewhere however. If he was going to spend another week excited for Christmas, he absolutely would not go caroling. The result would be endless irritation, and a complete lack of patience with any further festivities for the rest of the month. He knew the rest of the team, especially Skye, liked to joke about him being a robot, but he really did want to enjoy the holidays with them, and going caroling would be a big mistake.

"Fine! Be boring. I guess it's just me and FitzSimmons then."

Skye walked over and stood between the two of them, throwing her arms around their shoulders as she spoke. She ended by maturely sticking her tongue out at a bemused Ward.

"Whatever, I'm doing this for your benefit, you'll enjoy yourselves far more than you would if I came along and stood rolling my eyes at you guys making fools of yourselves. See you guys later!"

As Agent Ward left the room, Skye release Jemma and Leo from her embrace and bounced away from them, turning around as she reached the door, grinning at her teammates.

"Come on guys! Go get changed! Then we can meet back here afterwards."

"Changed?

"Christmas sweaters guys, duh! Don't pretend like you don't have any Fitz, we all saw that adorable penguin the other day. We should probably wear hats and gloves and stuff too. I think it's snowing out!"

Skye left the room, shortly followed by Fitz and Simmons. Half an hour later, they were back in the lounge, wrapped up warm and ready to go. As Skye walked into the room, she spotted the polar bear on Fitz's jumper, wearing a Santa hat.

"Oh! You, are so adorable!"

"I'm not adorable, I'm-"

"Actually," Skye continued, catching sight of Simmons' jumper. The two agents had inadvertently dressed in similar jumpers, although Jemma's polar bear was unfortunately not wearing a hat, "scratch that... you're not just adorable, the two you together are impossibly adorable!"

Fitz blushed, not bothering to continue to try and protest, while Simmons grinned at Skye, taking a moment to admire the other girl's jumper as well. Her's was bright red, with a reindeer on the front of it. Rudolph, presumably, judging by the red pom pom in the place of it's nose.

"I'm glad you like them, yours is pretty fantastic too!

"Thanks! So... are we ready to go?"

"Actually," Simmons hesitated, as though she wasn't sure if she should continue or not, "I was wondering... do you think we should ask Agent Coulson if he'd like to come with us? I know it's not very likely, but it wasn't likely Ward would come either, and we still asked him."

Neither Skye not Fitz had contemplated inviting Coulson and they, Skye especially, were getting impatient about setting off and starting their caroling, but they both realised how impolite it would be to not even ask him if he'd like to come, despite how sure they were that he was going to say no. After agreeing that they should invite him, it was decided that seeing as though it was her idea, Simmons should be the one to go and do it. She was a bit nervous about going on her own, and the possibility of disturbing him, but she went to ask nonetheless.

As she approached his door, she paused nervously outside his door for a few minutes. It wasn't that she disliked Agent Coulson, not in the slightest, and she'd come to consider him a good friend over the past few weeks, but she'd be lying if she said he didn't intimidate her a little. Eventually, she found the courage to knock on the door, and waited a few moments for him to get to the door,

"Hello, Simmons. Lovely to see you... what's the matter, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hi, sir! I was just going to ask if, I mean, we wanted to know-" Simmons suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. Coulson gave her a confused, questioning look, however he had to wait until she'd calmed down a little to find out what was amusing. By the time she'd stopped laughing uncontrollably, Jemma was slightly embarrased as she pointed out what it was that had caught her eye and made her laugh,

"I just looked up at the ceiling, and saw..." Simmons continued to giggle, as Coulson looked up at the doorframe above their heads, and joined her in her laughter. It seemed as though there was more than one place Fitz had failed to inform Simmons of when he'd been putting up the mistletoe. Thankfully though, he wasn't here to witness the results of his scheming, a fact which Jemma could at least take some pride from.

Agent Coulson pressed a kiss to Jemma's cheek, and pulled away, but Simmons decided that if they were going to do this thing they were going to do it properly. None of the other couples stuck beneath the mistletoe so far this year had avoided the consequences with a kiss on the cheek, and Jemma had made up her mind she wasn't going to be one of the first.

She took a small step forward, bringing her and Agent Coulson closer as she rested her hands on his waste to support herself as she went up onto her tiptoes to press her lips to Coulson's. Shocked, he didn't respond at first, but after a few seconds, he returned her soft, sweet kiss before the two of them pulled away from each other and took a step back. They looked at each other silently, until Simmons stepped backwards, clearing her throat.

"That, erm. That wasn't what I was here for Agent Coulson. We were wondering if you'd like to come carol singing. With me, Fitz and Skye!"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll leave you guys so it. Have a lovely time Simmons. Jemma."

"I will do, hopefully. Thank you... Phil."

Agent Coulson's first name sounded strange coming from Simmons, and felt very odd to speak. Jemma found that she quite liked it.

* * *

**A/N - I can't believe I'm a week into this already, hopefully you guys are still enjoying the story? One more week to Christmas! I hope you're having a lovely time. Remember you can see the plan for future chapters on my profile if you want to know when your favourite ship is coming up.**


	8. Voices Singing

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Voices Singing**

_Eighth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' Series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**19th December**

Once they'd returned from carol singing it had been past midnight. Fitz and Simmons were exhausted, and had gone straight to bed, but Skye was far too awake to contemplate sleeping, and hadn't wanted to lie restlessly in bed for the next few hours. The problem was that she hadn't known what to do with herself so early in the morning. There was no-one around to speak to, and nothing much to do, so she'd ended up wandering around the room with restless energy, still humming the carol's she'd been singing earlier in the night.

May lay in bed, trying to get back to sleep. She'd been woken up by half of the team arriving home, and was still being disturbed by Skye wandering around, humming loudly. She'd had enough of the noise, and was about to go and tell her to be quiet, and go back to her own room, when the girl broke out into song. Did she think they were in a cheesy movie? She was tired of her insistence on having no respect for her fellow agents. If she could even call them 'fellow' agents. Melinda still wasn't comfortable with the fact that Skye had absolutely no S.H.I.E.L.D. training whatsoever, and was reluctant to refer to her as an agent. She got up out of bed, and went to tell her to quieten down, following the sound of her voice as she moved throughout the bus.

Skye walked into the lounge, and spun round mid song to see Agent May glaring at her, clearly tired and unimpressed.

"It might have been appropriate whilst you were out carol singing, but what makes you think it's okay to keep people awake on the bus with your incessant singing?"

"Agent May! I didn't realise how loud I was being, I'm so sorry... I'm used to it just being me in my van. I'm guess not used to having to accommodate for other people. I hope I haven't been disturbing you for too long, I'll be quiet now."

"It would have been better if you'd thought to be quiet before waking members of your team up early in the morning."

"Like I said, I'm sorry, I didn't think-"

"That's the point. You should have. You need to decide whether you're part of this team or not Skye, it isn't just this, there are countless occasions where you've proved that you are incapable of considering the consequences of your actions on the team, rather than just yourself. You can't keep making excuses for yourself, if you really want to be part of this team, you need to start being considerate."

Agent May knew that she'd gone a bit over the top as far as reprimanded her for singing so early in the morning was concerned, but the frustrations she'd had with the girl over the past few weeks had built up, and she hadn't been able to stop herself relating this issue to the many others she was frustrated about. The abashed look on Skye's face made Melinda feel guilty, and that in itself irritated her more than anything. Skye was in the wrong, so why should she feel guilty about what she'd said to her? She couldn't help it though, sometimes Skye looked so lost sometimes that against her better judgement Agent May couldn't help but want to take her under her wing and teach her what it meant to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She saw in Skye the naive girl, eager to jump in and prove herself, that she'd once been, and that worried her. She didn't want history to repeat itself.

"I suppose I can forgive you this time. Go to sleep, Skye, and try to remember in future that you're not alone anymore in your van."

"Okay. I will do, Agent May. Goodnight."

Skye went to leave the room, but paused as she reached the doorway, and turned around to face May, who'd been following her out of the room. They were stood closer than was comfortable, but neither of them moved, as Skye spoke again,

"You know, you should have come with us. Caroling, that is."

"I wasn't invited."

Skye blushed, embarrassed that she might have inadvertently offended May,

"We asked you to take us somewhere we could go caroling! We thought you knew that meant you were invited, I'm sorry I-"

"Calm down, Skye. It's no matter, I would have said no even if you had have asked."

"Well... as long as we're quiet and don't wake anyone else up, there's time for one more song!"

"I don't think so."

Skye was adamant however, and started quietly singing the words to 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree'

"Rockin' around, the Christmas tree, at the Christmas party hop! Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop..."

She continued singing, her eyes pleading with Agent May to join in. Eventually, as she started the second verse, Agent May relented, realising that this wasn't going to end anytime soon unless she joined in with the carol. The two of them sang together,

"You will get a sentimental feeling, when you hear, voiced singing 'Let's be Jolly', deck the halls with boughs of holly,"

As they were singing, Skye realised once again how close they were stood in the doorway. A thought occurred to her, and she wasn't sure if it made her worried, or slightly hopeful. She looked up above their heads, Agent May's eyes following hers as she realised what Skye was checking for. The two of them tried not to laugh. As expected, the doorway was adorned with Mistletoe, and as they finished the line of the song, the two of them did laugh, as they leaned in and pressed their lips together.

For a few moments, it wasn't only Skye forgetting they were not alone on the bus, as both of them got lost in the sensation of their lips moving together. It didn't matter that only a few minutes ago Melinda had been lecturing the girl for keeping her awake, at that moment in time she was glad for the distraction from the stresses that came with being an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was nice to experience a kiss that came from singing, and laughter for once, and forget that the two of them were members of a dangerous organization. It was Christmas, and they were singing, and laughing, and kissing and that was all that mattered. At least for a short while.

Once they'd pulled away from each other, Skye came to her senses and instantly became nervous. She'd been trying to get May to sing with her, so that she might feel a little more like the two of them were friends. She did want to be part of the team, and an important part of that was being able to have fun with her fellow agents, by Agent May was quite a serious person, and Skye was sure she'd pushed things too far, especially so soon after she'd irritated her.

She relaxed again however, after she saw that May didn't look angry. She was smiling at her, and the two of them continued the song for a moment together, in whispered voiced,

"Rockin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday."

"Goodnight, Agent Skye,"

May finished with one final smile at the girl, before the two of them headed off to their rooms to finally get some sleep.

The two of them wouldn't speak again about what had happened, and if Fitz had a certain photograph at his disposal for future blackmail? Well, that was his business. They hadn't been singing that quietly, and he wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper.

* * *

**A/N - I'm so sorry this one is two days late! I was doing so well with updating on a daily basis as well, but 'tis the season to get terrible colds unfortunately :( I've got over the worst of it now, and I'm off work until January, so hopefully I should catch up by the end of tomorrow! Hope you guys are all okay, and enjoying the holiday season!**


	9. Let's Be Jolly

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Let's Be Jolly**

_Ninth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**20th December**

"Now everyone's awake, please tell me you're all coming out soon! I saw the snow two hours ago when I first got up, and I still haven't made a single snow ball, I'm not sure how much longer I can allow this to go on!"

Skye had woken up and looked outside to see a thick covering of snow surrounding the bus. She'd excitedly got dressed up warmly, and rushed out of her room intending to drag everyone to the nearest town to make the most of the wonderful winter, but had been disappointed when she found that for once she'd been the first person awake. She'd waited, somewhat impatiently, for the rest of the team to wake up and share in her enthusiasm about the weather, but even once everyone was awake it took them all another hour until they were dressed and in the lounge. Agent Coulson and Agent Ward had already made it clear they didn't want to go out in the cold weather, but Fitz's enthusiasm had rivaled Skye's when she'd pointed out that there was snow outside. He'd been dressed in under ten minutes, and sat in the lounge with Skye, the two of them grinning like children, and complaining at how long Ward and Simmons were taking. The two of them had both agreed that going out to the nearest town in the snow would be fun, but hadn't displayed appropriate levels of enthusiasm as far as Skye and Leo were concerned.

As the four of them left the bus and started walking, Fitz and Skye ran ahead a little bit, enjoying making footprints, and skidding through the fresh, untouched snow. Fitz suddenly through himself to the ground, confusing his fellow agents.

"Snow Angels!" He yelled, grinning at Simmons before continuing, "come on Jemma! You know you want to!"

Simmons rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist the childlike gleam of excitement in his eyes, lying down on the ground next to him. The two of them began to wave their arms and legs, giggling as their limbs got entangles, as Jemma had picked a space far to close to Leo to make angels successfully.

"Come on Ward! Snow Angels?"

Skye looked at Ward, her eyes pleading with him to join her, but unfortunately, it was no use.

"I don't fancy spending the rest of the day freezing to death! You're on your own kiddo."

She debated objecting to the term 'kiddo', but instead decided to stick her tongue out at Grant while she found a spot a little further away to make her angel. By the time she stood up, she was frozen stiff, and FitzSimmons were stood huddled together, admiring their combined effort at making a snow angel. She walked over to join them, unable to control her shivering.

"It looked like a two headed angel!" Observed Fitz.

"Who knows, their might be a planet out there with two headed winged aliens. If you'd have suggested that a couple of years ago, I would have been skeptical, but after the things we've seen, it feels like it could be possible."

Skye silently agreed with Simmons, the imprint they'd made in the snow seemed far from an angel. A two headed alien was far more likely. As they continued to walk, Skye watched as Fits and Simmons walked along, wrapping their arms around each other for warmth. She was trying not to be jealous, but she couldn't help envying Jemma a little, she wished she knew what it was like to be so close to somebody. She was also regretting the snow angel slightly as she continued to shudder, feeling as though she was freezing internally. Maybe she should have payed more attention to Agent Ward. She definitely should have at least left it until they were on their way back to the bus to get covered in snow.

"Hey, you okay there?"

Skye was suddenly aware of Ward stood beside her. She shivered again, as he put his arm around her, moving his hand up and down her arm in an attempt to warm her up.

"Is that any better?" He continued.

"Yeah... thanks!"

Skye wasn't sure her skin had enough warmth left in it to blush, but if it had she was sure she'd be bright red right now, as she let her body sink into the feeling of his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders, his hand running up and down her arm, warming her up on the inside as well as the outside, as she got slightly giddy at their proximity. She wasn't sure why she was reacting like this. This was Agent Ward. Sure, he was attractive, she wasn't about to deny that, but he was also Ward. Her irritating S.O. who never seemed to be satisfied with her.

"No problem. As your supporting officer it probably wouldn't reflect well on me if I let you freeze to death."

They continued to walk with Ward's arms around Skye, catching up to Fitz and Simmons. Fitz grinned when he saw the position they were walking in, but a pointed look at his hand, intertwined with Jemma's, was enough to make him reconsider whatever it was he was about to say. Instead, he decided that as they'd reached the edges of the town, a few shops and benches, enough things to hide behing, but not too crowded, he decided it was an appropriate time to make another suggestion.

"Snow ball fight anyone?"

"Definitely!" Responded Skye, "but can we go into one of the cafes for a hot drink first? I get pretty competitive when it comes to snow ball fighting, and I'm not sure I can handle it until I've warmed up a bit."

Simmons smiled, looking innocent as she looked into Skye's eyes, and responded,

"Really? You look like you've warmed up quite a bit to me. I think a hot drink is a good idea though."

They walked into the cafe and ordered their drinks, before going to take a seat at a table, as far away from the doors as possible to try and get warm. Simmons was the first person to sit down, and Fitz went to take a seat opposite her. At the last moment however, he changed his mine, standing up quickly before anyone else could sit down and taking the seat next to Simmons. As the other two agents sat down, the rest of the table looked at him questioningly. Once he realised, he made his excuses.

"What? Is a guy not allowed to want to sit with his best friend?"

They sat and chatted for a while, eventually being served their drinks and huddling around the hot cups as though they were hot water bottles. Slowly, they all warmed up to the point where the cafe was feeling practically cosy, finished their drinks, and started to debate leaving. Just as Skye was about to stand up, Fitz gestured for her to stay seated.

"Hold on a second, I think you're forgetting something."

Skye looked around, confused. The only thing she'd brought with her was her purse, and she quickly double checked, but she was correct in thinking she'd put is safely back in the inside pocket of her coat. Fitz, however, continued to smile at her, watching as though he was waiting for her to realised something. He slowly looked up at the ceiling above Skye and Agent Ward, the other members of the team following his lead and looking too. Their, above the table, directly between Skye and Ward's seats, was mistletoe. Even when they were away from the bus Fitz was capable of tricking various people into stepping into mistletoe traps. Ward quickly checked above Fitz and Simmons, to see if he could turn this back around on him and Simmons and make them kiss too, but unfortunately there was only one lot of mistletoe at their table.

Ward put his arm over Skye's shoulder again, as he'd done earlier, and leaned in towards her, pausing just before he reached her lips. She closed the gap between them and turned her body slightly to make their position more comfortable. His other hand caressed her waist, as hers rested on his hip, and the two of them felt the warmth spread throughout their bodies as they slowly moved their lips together, tingling from affect of heated kisses pressed to cold lips. There was only so much a person could warm up after lying in the snow, and whilst Skye had though her hot chocolate had warmed her thoroughly, it was nothing compared to kissing Ward. As they pulled apart, both of their faces had flushed in the way Skye's had refused to earlier due to the cold. Skye turned to Fitz, and issued a warning.

"Snow ball fight. You better watch out. You're not getting away with this."

Fitz just responded with a smile, pleased at the prospective challenge. He'd never found anyone as good at snow ball fights as him, maybe Skye would impress him?


	10. Where You Can('t) See

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Where You Can('t) See**

_Tenth in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**21st December**

It was evening, and five members of the team were in the lounge. Agent May had left earlier, without a word, and most of the other agents had hardly noticed, and thought nothing of it. Not Agent Fitz though. He'd noticed over the past few weeks that this was something May did frequently. Whenever the whole team were together in a casual capacity, just chatting and enjoying each other's company rather than working together on a mission, after a while she would leave, most of the time looking quite stressed. No one else really seemed to notice, but Fitz was worried that they were inadvertently doing something to make her uncomfortable.

He'd been debating whether or not to go and see where she was for a while, and finally decided it was time to actually act on his concern, rather than sitting their contemplating it. He excused himself, saying goodnight to the rest of his teammates, then began his search around the bus. She didn't answer when he knocked on her door, and as he walked around the bus throughout the corridors he began to run out of places to look for her, and considered the fact that she may have been in her room, and either been asleep, or simply not in the mood to talk to him. Just as he was about to give up and go to bed, he remembered that he hadn't checked the cockpit yet.

May was sat in the cockpit, relaxing and allowing her mind to wander the way it needed to every so often, when she suddenly heard the door behind her. Phil was the only person who knew she sometimes came here to think, so as she turned around to greet him, it was a shock to her to find Agent Fitz smiling at her from the doorway.

"Hi, Agent May. What are you doing in here? The bus isn't moving?"

"Thank you, for that keen observation, Agent Fitz. I can see why you're considered on of the smart ones. I just came in here to think."

"Do you mind if I sit with you for a bit?"

"I suppose not."

Fitz took a seat beside May, as she waited for him to continue the conversation. As he sat down, however, he realised he hadn't thought about what he was actually going to say to May once he found her. He'd just wanted to ask if she was okay, and why she sometimes left when the group were all together, but he wasn't sure how to phrase the question anymore, and was nervous about messing up somehow, so he kept quiet for a while. Eventually, Melinda stopped waiting for him to speak, and allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts again, and Fitz followed her lead and let his mind wander as well. It was rather peaceful, sat quietly in that little room, and Fitz began to appreciate the appeal of sitting in here alone for a while. Well, not alone in his case he supposed, but in silence at least. Eventually, May decided she wanted to know what had made Leo come to the cockpit in the first place.

"So, what brought you here anyway? I thought everyone was in the lounge?"

As she spoke, Fitz was pulled from his thoughts and remembered why it was he came here in the first place.

"Oh... I just wanted to... I was wondering why you were here? I mean, why do leave the rest of the group? I think that came out harsher than I expected, I just meant that I noticed you sometimes leave the room looking uncomfortable when we're all together, and I wondered why that was. Is there something we're doing?"

"Nobody's making me uncomfortable. I just like sometime to myself every so often, I can't concentrate when I'm surrounded by people."

"What is there to concentrate on? It's nearly Christmas, we should all be relaxing and having fun together!"

"That's been part of the problem recently, why spending time with the rest of the team is so frustrating. We're relaxing to much, letting our guard down. It might be Christmas, but we're a team of agents, not elves, we need to start taking our jobs more seriously. If we were given a mission right now, no one would be able to concentrate on it, everyone's far too distracted. Aside from all of that though, I do understand what you mean about relaxing, and I do spend time with the rest of the team, but I can only relax so much when I'm surrounded by people, I need some time to myself to relax properly."

May paused for a while, allowing Fitz to take in everything she'd just said, and giving herself time to think about how much more she wanted to admit in his presence, before continuing.

"I used to be able to relate to other people easily, but things change, and people grow up. The last few weeks have been odd, everyone has been so much more relaxed that usual, and I'm not used to dealing with most of the member's of the team on a casual basis, especially when they're acting so much like family, and I feel as though I hardly know them. I need some time to recharge on my own every once in a while."

Fitz assumed that May was referring to the mission that earnt her the unwanted nickname 'the cavalry' when she mentioned growing up, and finding it more difficult to relate to the rest of the team. He knew she found Coulson easier to talk to than the rest of the team, and he presumed that was because he was more experienced, had seen more than the rest of them just like May had, and could understand the kind of things she's been through during her years with S.H.I.E.L.D. He contemplated whether he might be pushing things too far before asking his next question, but decided that if Agent May didn't want to answer it, then she definitely wouldn't fail to let him know it, so it couldn't hurt too much to at least ask.

"May, if you don't mind me asking, what happened? What was it that-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Fitz. Go back to the lounge, enjoy yourself. I might even join you again in a bit."

He was about to get up and leave, when he looked at Melinda's face. She was trying to hide the hurt in her eyes, but the expression on her face and the unshed tears in her eyes supported the assumption that she was currently reliving painful memories. She was reliving them because of Fitz, and there was nothing he could do to help.

He debated just sticking to what he was going to do before he noticed the look on her face, and leave, but the longer he looked into her eyes, the more he wanted to comfort her. He knew realistically that what he was about to do was highly unlikely to help. In fact, he considered, it was more likely that Agent May would turn away from him, and tell him to get lost, but at that moment it seemed as though the risk was worth taking. He rested a hand on her cheek, and she turned around and met his eyes with hers, looking at him puzzled. He moved his head towards hers slowly, giving her a chance to push him away or tell him to stop, but instead she leaned in to meet his lips with hers, resting one hand on his neck, the other in his hair, feeling the curls run through her fingers as the two of them pressed their lips together.

Their lips only touched softly, but both of them felt as though they were being hit by something far more powerful as they moved their lips slowly, memorising the feel of each other and making the most of what they were both sure would be a short, sweet experience. After only a few seconds, they pulled apart.

"What was that about, Agent Fitz?"

Fitz cleared his throat, and smiled at her before responding,

"Mistletoe." He kept his eyes fixed on her, as she glanced up at the ceiling, and then back down quickly in confusion,

"but there isn't any-"

"There is," Fitz interjected, "after all, I was the one who put mistletoe up all around the bus. I'd know where I put it, right?"

Agent May looked back up to double check the mistletoe-less ceiling, before rolling her eyes and standing up,

"Hmm, okay then. I suppose you must be right. Mistletoe. Anyway, I think I'm going to go back to the lounge now. Are you coming?"

Fitz stood up and went to follow her, stumbling as he reached the doorway as she stopped in front of him and turned around. She quickly pressed another kiss to his lips, before turning back around and walking down the corridor, yelling behind her to a bewildered Fitz.

"Mistletoe."

He looked up, to see nothing but the doorway above him. He smiled to himself, before heading off down the corridor, back towards the lounge.

* * *

**A/N - wow this one was cheesy. I mean, I wrote it, and I'm still shocked by how cheesy it is. I know the rest of them are as well, but I think this one wins, haha. Hope you enjoyed it, I'm always more worried about what people will think about the less conventional ships, but I'm trying to keep them all as open ended as possible, so that you can see each relationship potentially going somewhere, but nothing is dead set and clear, or else it would ruin the other ships involving those characters.**


	11. Christmas Party Hop

**Every Agent Tries to Stop: Christmas Party Hop**

_Eleventh in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings._

* * *

**22nd December**

Agent Coulson had thoroughly enjoyed the team's Christmas spirit over the past couple of weeks. It had been years since Christmas had felt like much of a special occasion for him, but this year the excitement of his team had made the run up to the holiday feel special. Like he was spending it with family. He knew that the younger agents were most likely throwing themselves into the season so enthusiastically as a distraction. It can't be that long ago that they were still living with their parents, celebrating surrounded by family. Not Skye, he corrected himself. He wondered what her previous Christmases had been like, and whether or not she was as glad as him that the six of them were celebrating together on the bus.

"Christmas day isn't for parties though! It's for cheesy movies and presents, we need a proper party."

"I have to agree with Fitz on this one, besides, we can't even guarantee we wont end up on a mission at Christmas, things always seem to occur at this time of year, and it's been far too quiet over the past couple of weeks. We should make the most of it while we can."

Simmons looked over at Grant, in shock at what she'd just heard him say. She knew Agent Ward wasn't entirely against the party, she could tell he'd been enjoying the Christmas shenanigans despite his reluctance, but she was rather shocked to hear him defending the idea. She smiled to herself whilst she watched him, blushing gently as he noticed her, meeting her eyes with his and returning the smile. He was feeling much more comfortable as part of a team recently, he thought to himself. He was almost enjoying working with the other Agents, and he was definitely beginning to enjoy spending time around his teammates.

Leo and Jemma spent the rest of the day excitedly planning for the night's Christmas party, with plenty of help from the rest of the team. Fitz sat in the kitchen whilst he put together a playlist of music, including every cheesy Christmas song he could think of, along with some of his personal favourites, so that he could chat with Simmons whilst she put her mother's baking lessons to the test. Skye and Melinda both insisted on having their own input on the playlist, so whilst they stood over Fitz's shoulder making suggestions, Simmons decided to teach Ward how to make cookies. She'd asked Agent Coulson if he'd like to join them, but he'd claimed he had 'business' to attend to.

"So, what kind of cookies are we making?"

"What do you mean what kind? We're making cookies... oh! Never mind. You mean what sort of biscuits. We're making chocolate chip cookies. They're the only type we call cooking in England."

"Biscuits? Biscuits and cookies are so not the same thing, English people are ridiculous. Can't even speak your own language!"

"Hey! You're the ones who miss letters out here, there and everywhere, don't start telling me we're the ones that get it wrong. Anyway, that's besides the point! Time for cookies of the chocolate chip variety!"

By the time the cookies were in the oven, the rest of the team had finished arguing over who had the best music taste, and all five of them ended up scattered around the kitchen trying their hand at different party foods, with varying results. Fitz and May were both coping well, both of them fairly average when it came to cooking, with their own personal dishes that they'd learnt to perfect, and Grant was still assisting Jemma, so her skill made up for his inexperience and the two of them were creating some wonderful food. Skye, on the other hand was not faring so well. After a disastrous to recreate Simmons' delicious pumpkin pie, ending in a blackened gooey mess, she decided sticking to helping the others would be safer.

By the time evening came around, the lounge was filled with food and drink, and the team went back to their rooms to change out of their clothes, which were, for the most part, covered in flour. Fitz changed quickly, rushing back to the lounge to start up the music, then went to let Coulson know the party was starting.

An hour later, the party was in full swing, the lounge filled with giggling and dancing as the team loosened up, the combination of a little alcohol and obnoxiously loud Christmas music getting to them. Simmons had spent most of her time dancing with Fitz, the two of them spinning each other round, making each other laugh, but suddenly Leo found himself dancing with Skye, and for a moment Simmons stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not quite sure what to do now she was on her own. She'd almost made the decision to go and grab something to eat and wait for Leo to finish dancing with Skye, when she felt a strong arm around her waist. She turned around to find herself facing Grant smiling down at her,

"Fancy a dance Jemma?" Simmons briefly contemplated whether she'd ever heard him say her first name before, nodding and allowing Grant to spin her around. The two of them giggled as they danced with each other, Ward eventually pulling her closer to him, until they were practically slow dancing.

Skye drew Leo's attention to the two of them, and then looked pointedly at the ceiling, before winking at him and walking over to the oblivious dancers. She gave them a shove, which sent them stumbling sideways, startling them both. They both turned to look at Skye, their faces showing a mixture of confusion and irritation, until they notices she was pointing above their heads,

"Surprise! Mistletoe... enjoy!"

Ward barely hesitated before spinning the girl in his arms around, before dipping her and capturing her lips as the rest of the agents whooped at the display. Jemma had never been kissed the way Grant was kissing her before, and it was quite the experience. She wasn't sure how it was possible to concentrate on anything besides the pressure of his lips against hers, but she couldn't deny that his strong arms holding her up, and his body pressed against hers were equally as distracting. As he felt her relax into his arms, he held her more firmly, reveling in the sensation. He fought back a moan as their tongues touched for a moment, before the two of them came to their senses and notices the ongoing cheers surrounding them. They broke apart, laughing along with the rest of the team as they straightened themselves back up.

"Quite a show there Ward!"

Skye grinned mischievously, high five-ing Fitz, the two of them congratulating each other on a job well done. The night was far from over however, and with mistletoe lurking right in the centre of the room, it wasn't likely to be long before it claimed another two victims.

* * *

**A/N - I have no excuses only apologies! What can I say, Christmas is a terrible time of year to try and find motivation to write, so much family stuff going on, but hopefully the last four chapters will be here soon! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, despite the delay.**


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